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Friday, November 28, 2008

Yup! All of that was completely f-r-e-e. Yes I paid an actual $2 in real money, but I had walked in with $38.95 in ecbs, and I left with $43.89! Even the Whitman's sampler was "free" because it was on sale for $3.99, I had a $2 coupon from a really old insert (like from March or May or something! lol) and then the overage from my other products with coupons covered it! If you haven't gone to CVS yet, your store may still have some things available for free. Check the post here to get the scoop.

There are quite a few CVS stores in my area, and I chose to go to one a little further from my house, because it is usually better stocked and has friendlier employees. I also think the employees at my local store hide the free items or get them for themselves because they are immediately all gone. So anyway, I arrived at the good CVS 5 mins. before 8 and there were already 3 other people waiting to get in! I couldn't believe it. These were real, serious deal-getters like me. When they unlocked the doors we all went right for the razors, and it was funny, I said "Should we all just follow each other?" and everyone nervously chuckled like 'oh man I gotta get my stuff!' hehe. But it was all good. All of us got our stuff and it was like Christmas morning. We helped each other find things, we took turns working our transactions and the cashier loved it. Sigh. I wish this happened every time, but it sure made for a nice Thanksgiving morning of goodies. :)

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving & good luck to anyone who may be Black Friday shopping. I am not one for crowds so I will be right here at home. Cyber Monday might be the day for me.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Hooray! Thanksgiving is almost here, and things are finally getting back to normal here at my house. I would be very remiss if I didn't give you a link to the Super-Awesome CVS deals that will be available in your store *tomorrow*. Yes, I will be going to CVS bright & early on Thanksgiving Day to nag all of my free, and more than free, stuff!! Money Saving Mom has the scoop on all of the goodness, here.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

It is because a tornado hit my kitchen!! Well, that's what it looks like right? I mean there is a filthy floor, a filthy Phillies rally towel (?!), garbage, spices, a ton of misplaced items...all because my refrigerator broke. Again.

Marc and I remodeled the kitchen just before getting married a few years ago, and one of our prized items was the huge stainless steel side-by-side refrigerator we bartered for at the Sears outlet for HOURS, to get for $800. A few years later, just a few months ago, the freezer flat out died and all my items defrosted. The fridge side quickly followed suit. The warranty had JUST expired, and it took two repairman trips and $400 to repair the fridge!!!

Well, the first reason I have been post-lite lately is because Marc was out of town for a business trip in Baltimore. I didn't really think I should mention that kind of thing on here in advance because it would alarm my mom :). So all weekend while I'm here alone, there was a really obnoxious knocking sound coming from the kitchen, even waking me up in the middle of the night. I guess it was the reaper coming for my big ol' fridge (seriously, though, I wonder what it was? The fridge trying to give me an SOS?). So, at some point this afternoon, I opened the freezer to find all of my homemade baby food, ice cream, anything near the top, wasted. Of course, you-know-who has the worst memory, and forgot to put the fridge on the PSE&G repair contract. So no warranty, yet again. Ouch!!

You can imagine that all afternoon/evening I've been busy with the salvaging of food, getting rid of the clunker fridge, shopping for a new fridge, etc. Not fun! So I do hope you'll excuse me for a while while I clean up the aftermath.

And this weekend while I was attempting to hold down the fort, I never got around to doing the Acme deals...did anyone notice? I had looked through the circular and saw *nothing* worthy of note. So, I decided to skip it. Now you know. It is just one of those weeks! Can't wait for Thanksgiving!!

Monday, November 24, 2008

I had totally forgotten about this, whoops! To celebrate that Guns 'n Roses is actually coming out with a new album (I think you're 20 years late there, bud), Dr. Pepper is giving away a coupon for a free 20 oz. bottle. The thing is, it ends tonight at 6 PM EST.

Sign up here and they will send you a coupon by mail for a free bottle!

Oh and if you are having problems with their website (they have been super overloaded with this promo, apparently) you can call 1-888-DRPEPPER (1-888-377-3773) and request the coupon that way.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Last year around Christmastime was when I first got hooked on CVS. They had a phenomenon that was taking the world by storm: stackable coupons. Now, no one at CVS expressly said that they were stackable, but they didn't say they weren't either. There were internet printable coupons for $10 off a $50 purchase, all the way down to $2 off a $10 purchase. Combining all of these CVS $ off coupons, CVS store coupons, manufacturer coupons AND the Extra bucks program, made for some insanely killer deals that you just knew wouldn't last long.

Of course, that madness didn't last long, and now CVS doesn't put out anywhere near the amount of coupons that they used to. What they still do however, is have their awesome Extracare program. If you don't already have an Extracare card, you need to get yourself one asap! Not really because of their 2% back off all your purchases every quarter (which doesn't add up to too much for me), but because they give you your own "extracare coupons" at the end of transactions (which can be combined with manufacturer coupons to score you really good deals) and because you can earn Extracare bucks (ECBs) on certain products every week and month that come out to be totally free.

Now, the whole CVS program is not new to many of you, but I know a lot of my readers (especially my own dear family) do not take advantage of it the way they could! I will not go through a huge long tutorial here, especially since almost every other 'frugal mom' type website has her own tutorial. There are good ones here and here.

Once you get into CVS deals you can nab stuff like I did here:

This week there is a Complete contact solution deal where you spend $8.99 out of pocket and get $8.99 ecbs back = free! The limit per Extracare card was five! So, how could I turn down five free bottles of solution? That is like a year's supply for me (and they don't expire until late in 2010!) I also was PAID to get two of the Maybelline mineral makeups: they were on sale for $8.99 each, I had a $3 off coupon and a $2 off coupon, and each one gave a full $8.99 in ecbs, so I got $5 worth of ecbs, free! The free toothpaste is a monthly deal and the store I stopped today actually had some!! I missed out on the Duracell battery deal they had last week, so I stocked up today on the Energizer deal. I got two mega-packs of AA & AAA batteries for $22, used two $1 off coupons and got $10 in ecbs...my total for 32 batteries? $10. Oh, and the formula I just needed ;)

NOW, I have a ton of ecb's for next time, and apparently my next time will be Thanksgiving! The CVS Black Friday deals were "leaked" and there is a bunch of stuff FREE after ecbs (toothpaste, Aussie products, universal remotes, energy drinks, razors, etc.)! So get started if you haven't yet...'tis the season to get hooked!!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Ok, so that's not a turkey, but I liked the picture! lol... All over the web right now, everyone is in a flurry about Thanksgiving and what to make/how to make it easier or more affordable. There is a good series on Money Saving Mom called "Thanksgiving on a Budget" which has ideas for decorating and food on the cheap.

I have to say, I have never cooked a turkey (even though I will need to learn, with my Acme free turkey in the freezer!) and my brother has cooked our Thanksgiving meals for years now. Since my bro and his wife host it at their home now, all I have to do is show up and bring a couple of things. So I'm not really an authority on preparing Thanksgivings, but there is one thing that I was requested to bring (aside from a vegetable), my deviled eggs. (or "angel eggs" if you grew up in my kind of family)

They seem to be either a 'love it or hate it' type thing. My sister is really finicky about deviled eggs and insists on no mustard (even though I think the filling is way better with mustard!). I do sneak relish into mine though. (Again, she doesn't read my blog, so she won't know! lol) So my filling is usually just mayonnaise, a little relish, salt and pepper and the paprika on top.

Then there is the question of to pastry bag the filling, or just spoon it on. I have to say the whole pastry tip thing is a HUGE waste of time, and no one really cares anyway. Also, then you have to really work the filling to be lump-free or your tip will get clogged every few seconds. So I say, do not use the pastry bag. Get real people! ;)

I can't say hooray enough! For quite a long time, I have been working on the above cross stitch. When my sister found out she was having a boy, I knew the name Noah was a top contender for the baby. I wanted to make something for him, and since I like cross-stitch, I researched options. Most patterns were too cartoony, pastel or just not my style. When I found this pattern ("Promises Kept" by Dimensions) I knew that it was perfect. What I didn't take into consideration was that it was way beyond my skill level at the time. I tried my best to have it done by the shower, and then by the time he was born, and then...FLASH FORWARD, he is now three!!! THREE!!

And yes, this is somewhat embarrassing! But last week while I was doing the "Making your home a haven" challenge, I knew that I wanted to work on this project until it was completed. I broke down the remaining pieces into little "doable" chunks, like 'complete eyes on outer left animals', etc. (The eyes, or the french knots, are what was out of my skill level. Stitching is stitching, but I can't do those knots for the life of me. I ended up substituting knots with small stitches for the eyes).

So now, it is done!!! I pressed it and found a framer nearby who will have it ready for me to present to the family on Thanksgiving. (Note to family, don't tell Jess! She doesn't read my blog anyway, lol)

So if my blogging fell by the wayside for a few days, now you know why!

And for my friend Yukline, here is a close-up of the berries on the tree that I was working on when we went to Las Vegas...2 years ago! ;)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I was thinking about what I was going to write in this WFMW post and I was stuck between two websites. Then I realized that hey, I have already mentioned Roboform & Paperback Swap…am I addicted to the internet? Is that all that works for me?

And then I thought, who cares of course I’m not. But there really are two cool things that are especially working for me at the moment:

Pandora- Pandora is an internet radio site, where you just quick type in your favorite song or band and it will play similar tunes. What has impressed me about Pandora is that, unlike other online radio gadgets, this one doesn’t play some really random, totally off-the-wall choices. It claims to use music genomes (?) to play appropriate tunes. So far, I love it. I have the Beatles station, the Fleetwood Mac station, the Joan Baez station…and I just realized that I sound thirty years older than I am.

Etsy- This one probably isn’t new to you. I have been suggesting Etsy to crafty people for a while. “Oh wow, your homemade widgets are awesome! No, don’t sell on eBay, sell on Etsy.” Things like that. This Christmas season, however, I plan on doing much more shopping from the comfort of my couch, and I checked Etsy out for some unique gift ideas. I’m hooked! I love the homemade shirts, bags cuter than you could ever find in stores, earrings that real people make. You might think that cool, homemade stuff is going to be more expensive that what you’d find at the mall. Instead, the prices I’ve found at Etsy are way better than at the stores which I would be shopping. Another cool thing about buying straight from a real person is that if you want something in a different color, just ask, and the artist might be able to make it special for you/your gift.

So those are two quick sites that work for me. I hope you like them, too. To see what works for other people, check out WFMW at Rocks in my Dryer.

Ok, I did a pretty big shopping trip last night ($60, that is a lot for me!), but I was able to score my free turkey! It was 17 lbs! Of course I have no idea what to do with a giant turkey, but it is here and in my chest freezer. There were lots of frozen-y items, so I didn't get a picture this time--we had to quick put things away.

One good deal that was a surprise was a clearance rack that had my usual vitamin, Viactiv flavor-glides, on sale for $2.99! A 100-pack bottle! I know that Viactiv usually has coupons on their site, so I thought about just coming back, when I decided to just check my coupon stash. What do you know? A $2 off coupon! So 100 vitamins for $0.99!! Hooray! The kicker here was the expiration date is 12/31/08, so they are looking to move these. But you know that some things have bogus expiration dates right? I'm not talking milk here, but something like vitamins and supplements usually last a year since they are opened. I will definitely be using these up before one year. I come from a mom that doesn't put too much stock in expiration dates...sometimes they are just there to make you run out and buy more.

Also, I did the Pillsbury deal, buy 5 items, get the Land O Lakes butter for 50 cents....WELL...I had a $0.55 cents off LoL butter coupon I got in the mail, so it doubled to $1.10, giving me $0.60 overage. I love when little things like that happen.

Finally, I was super stoked with my baggy of $40.76 in change, and what? The Coinstar machine was having problems with gift cards (after it took my money of course!) and printed out a ticket to get cash for "no fee." Um, I could do that anywhere! I wanted my $10 g/c! Oh well. I could always try it again later. :)

Monday, November 17, 2008

You know those Coinstar machines that sit at the front of your grocery store? The ones that you never use because they charge you a little fee to count your coins when most banks now do this for free? Yeah, those!

Well, Coinstar is running a little incentive to make you cash your coins in for gift cards or e-certificates (to Amazon, for example). Not only are they going to waive the fee if you cash them in for certs instead of money, but if you pony up $40 in change, they will give you a $10 bonus!

Now, you don't get the $10 right away, but here's how it works. Before December 7th, get your $40 in change (if you need a bit more change you could always get some from your bank, hehe) - I actually had $40 in my coffee can, woohoo! Now, go to the Coinstar machine and opt for a gift card or e-cert (see the participating stores here). At the bottom of your receipt will be a claim form, to fill out and mail in. Coinstar will then send you a $10 gift card for the same store that you originally had picked. So for $40, you will get a total of $50. Not bad!

I just have to decide which store to pick...I think Amazon would actually be the most practical for me, but of course Old Navy is always good for clothes ;)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

First, if you are new to working deals at Acme, please read the background info on one of my earlier deals posts. This will explain how the coupons double & how to print two copies of the printable coupons.

Normally the deals are pretty obvious, but for some reason this took me forever this week! lol. Here is what I see:

This is the last week to earn credit towards your free turkey!

These deals right below end Sunday, November 17th, so if you need them, hurry!Nestle Morsels, 10-12 oz. bags on sale $2.33
Domino sugar, 5-lb. bags (limit 2) are $1.99 (there is a $0.50 off two coupon in this Sunday's paper. After the coupon doubling, 2 5-lb. bags would be only $2.98 total).
Acme vegetable oil 128 fl. oz bottle is $5.99
Acme cooking spray is buy one get two free with circular coupon
Deals using printable coupons and regular coupons:Lysol cleaning products are on sale for $2.50 each (excluding disinfecting spray). Sign up here and there are printable coupons (when you are on the coupon page, click on "surface care") for almost every variety of Lysol ranging between $0.50 (that will double) to $1. You then would get the products for around $1.50 each.

Electrasol Auto Dish Detergent 75 oz & 8.45 oz. Jet-Dry are on sale for $3.99 each. Sign up here and there are $0.50 printable coupons for the detergent (that will double to $1 off) and $1 off Jet-Dry coupons so you can get each for $2.99. (Once you are on the coupon page, click on "home care")

Fast Fixin' Chicken Nuggets are on sale for $1.66. Print *five* of the printable available when you register here and get them for $0.66 each!.

Slim-Fast Optima, Hi-Pro & Easy Digest are on sale $6. Use the $1.25 coupon here (coupon link is in the bottom right of the page) to get them for $4.75.

Near East rice is on sale 5 for $10 (must buy five!), but you get an instant $2 off at checkout, making them 5 for $8. There are $0.50 off one coupons (that will double to $1 off) here, here and here. Print and redeem five of the coupons and get 5 boxes for $3, making them $0.60 each.

12-pack cans of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite or Dr. Pepper are on sale 4 for $11 (must buy four!). Use the coupon on page 6 of the circular to get 2 free 2-liters of Nestea with your 4 12-packs of Coke purchase. If you participate in My Coke Rewards you can also redeem 35 points for a "$1 off a 12-pack" coupon. It will generate a URL that you can copy and paste to print one coupon through Firefox and one in Internet Explorer. Redeem 70 points, print a total of 4 coupons, and get 4 12-packs and 2 2-liters of tea for $7 total!

Buy any five of these Pillsbury products and get one lb. of Land O Lakes butter for only $0.50. The products are:Pillsbury Cinnamon or Chocolate twists - $2 each
Pillsbury Crescent or Sweet rolls - $1.66 each
Pillsbury Dinner rolls or loaf bread - $2 each
Pillsbury Refrigerated pie crusts - $2.50 each
There are tons of coupons for these items in recent newspaper inserts & there are coupons here, here, and here, as well as www.pillsbury.com.

Pick up any brand or flavor gallon of milk and it will be free at checkout when you buy any 4 participating Kellogg's cereals. The participating brands aren't listed out on the circular, but look for little stickers on the price tags at the store. There are several varieties pictured on sale 2 for $6 (not the greatest deal, I know), but there might be some participating ones that are less. There are also coupons for $1 off different varieties from a recent insert and there is a $1 off coupon here.

Deals using coupons from this week's paper or newspaper inserts from other weeks:Nature's Bounty Vitamins are on sale buy one get one free and there a bunch of $1 off coupons from newspaper inserts available (there was also one inside the tote bag freebie from a couple weeks ago). You CAN use two coupons, even if you are getting one free, because technically you are purchasing two separate products!

Heluva Good dips are on sale for $1.66. Use the $1 off any two dips or cheeses coupon from this Sunday's paper to get two dips for $1.16 each.

There is a save $1 coupon in this Sunday's paper for any two boxes of Jell-o instant pudding is usually $0.50 a box and this week Cool Whip is on sale for $1. Buy two boxes of pudding and one Cool Whip and it will be $1 total after the coupon!

Ajax dish detergent is on sale for $1. Use the $0.20 coupon from this Sunday's paper to get it for $0.60!

2 oz. bottles of Tabasco original variety pepper sauce are $1.59 with Supercard. Use the $0.50 off coupon from this Sunday's paper to get a bottle for $0.59 after doubling.

Meow Mix Market Select single cups are on sale for $0.55 each. Use the save $1 coupon from this Sunday's paper to get four cups for $0.30 each.

Turkey Hill Ice Cream is on sale for $3.33 each. There is a $1 off 2 coupon from a recent insert that would make these $2.83 each.

Scotties facial tissues are on sale for $1 each. There are $1 off 5 boxes coupons and a $0.50 off 3 boxes coupon from recent inserts. That would make them either $0.80 each for five, or $0.66 each for three, depending on what coupon you have available.

Hefty OneZip freezer or storage bags are on sale for $2 each. There is a $1 off two coupon from a recent insert to make them $1.50 each. Also, there is a $1 off any one coupon from the same insert for Hefty trash bags, which are $7.99 this week.

Campbell's canned gravies are on sale for $0.66 each. There is a coupon from a recent insert for $1 off any 4 cans, which will make them $0.41 each.

Other promos:There is a promo running where $5 will instantly come off your order when you purchase 10 participating products. These include Eagle brand condensed milk, some Crisco products, Pillsbury flour, frosting & premium brownie mix, Hungry Jack pancake mix & syrup, Jif peanut butter & Smucker's preserves. Of course you can work this to purchase what you need, but I don't think anything looks too fabulous here.

There is also a promo to save $10 on any fresh or frozen turkey when you buy $25 of participating Kraft products. There is a long list, but I don't think this promo is really great. If it was just $10 off your next order, it would be another story :)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Yes! Another blog giveaway to help you a little bit with your holiday entertaining. I tend to over-shop whenever someone is having a catalog/home show party and I have some surplus Tastefully Simple items. In the spirit of giving, I will give them away to one of my awesome readers!

The winner will receive (new and sealed, of course!) one 11.5 oz jar of Tastefully Simple Prickly Pear Cooler mix and one 11 oz. jar of Creamy Caramel Sauce. Use the Prickly Pear Cooler mix with sparkling or still water, or use it as a base for a Prickly Pear martini (recipe on the can). I don't think I have to tell you all of the things you can use caramel sauce for!

The deadline to enter is November 27th by midnight EST. The winner will be picked randomly and notified by email. This giveaway is open to anyone in the continental US only.

To enter, just comment with something you like about my blog, or would like to see me write about in the future. You don't need to be a blogger to enter, just provide a valid email address in your comment so I can get ahold of you if you win. The last two giveaways I've had, the first "winner" didn't have any way for me to contact them! If you have a private profile and you don't include your email in your comment, I can't reach you! Just type your email something like this in your comment: QueenMotherBlog{at}gmail(dot)com & you're golden.

Want three extra entries? 1. You can post about my giveaway on your blog and leave the link in a comment. Though I would love a fancy write-up, a quick link on one of your posts will do!2. Subscribe to my feed and post a comment letting me know.3. Follow my blog and post a separate comment letting me know.

Just post separate comments for each entry, as I will be using a random number generator to choose a winner from the comments.

Click here and grab a free "Home Made Simple" coupon booklet. It has $27 worth of coupons for cleaning/household products and there is normally a coupon for a totally free bottle of Cascade brand Jet-dry!Free sample of Greenies for your pet, one per household

Sign up here to get a coupon for a free bottle of Country Bob's BBQ Sauce. I have signed up for this before and haven't received it yet, but it's worth a second try. There is also a disclaimer that the coupons will only be sent to the US, but excludes AK, CA, HI, ND, OR, & VT.

Day five! Today's theme is "Inviting & Giving". Since I didn't give a little recap yesterday, I'll do that really quick first. Since I was heading out to the Women's Conference at church and we were just eating some leftovers, I decided to make some cookies to add to our "fun" for the day. I scored a bunch of free baking mix type items in the recent Acme deals, so it only took a few minutes to make these:

Why do the m&m's melt like that, I wonder? Oh well, they are tasty!

Today I am meeting a girlfriend that I haven't seen in a while for lunch, and later it is another night of the conference. One of my other friends goes to my same church and is coming to the conference with me. I decided to have her over for dinner beforehand, so I'll be making a chicken and rice crockpot dish. I'll post the recipe and pictures later.

So it isn't *too* much, but I get to catch up on some friends! Oh and I think I'm going to post my new giveaway today! I was going to do it next week, but why not put it up today and add to my "giving" theme? So I have covered a bit of inviting and giving!

On a little extra note, last night in one of the sessions, one of the pastors spoke about David & how he was able to succeed while being who he was. Some times when we read about all the awesome things that other people are doing it can be a little easy to wish that we had the abilities of others. The pastor had a really good quote that "David's success was in being true to his own identity." If God could use the youngest boy of the family with his own unique talents (like harp playing!) He can work through you and whatever your talents are.So, there's my encouraging word for the day ;)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Day four! I'm kind of sad that the week is almost over! This challenge has really motivated me to get off the couch (which is where I sit with the computer) during my spare moments and accomplish things in the house. Today Monica has designated the challenge to be "fun"--making the home a fun place to be.

Can you believe that this one has been the most challenging for me so far? It is easy for me to see what needs to be done, but not as easy to just stop and have fun. Que lastima!

Well, today was my Weight Watchers weigh in day, so this morning as soon as Rayna got up, we trudged out in the rain and made the meeting. On the way home I picked up a sandwich for me at Arby's, just for fun ;). When we got home, Rayna was a bit of a crankpot with the teething (still! I'm praying they break through SOON!) so after our lunch I tried to just chill with her on the floor and play little games.

Now that she's napping, I'm going to actually just finish up my chores for the day (dishwasher, straightening). Tonight starts the Women's Conference at my church and Marc is watching the baby so that I can go to both night sessions and the Sat. morning session! This will definitely be my 'fun' for the day, as I never really get out & getting to hear a message at church is especially a struggle, since Rayna is always getting kicked out of the nursery!

As for the rest of the "fun" day, we'll see what happens. I am going to set up a few activities for Marc to do with Rayna before she goes to bed, because he always needs a little 'inspiration'. Dinner is leftover beef...Rachael Ray would call it 'stoup' from Tuesday night.

So this morning I had my weigh in. I didn't go last week, just because I was slacking a bit and it was pouring rain. Earlier this week I heard the weather forecast that it was going to rain again on Thursday, but this time I knew I couldn't skip. So I dragged cranky Rayna out to the meeting and...

...I was down 1.4!! What?? Over a lb.!!?? When I was off the wagon this week? It is a miracle, I tell ya. Maybe it was all my running around cleaning this week. Or maybe it is that when I don't journal what I'm eating, I actually eat *less* because I'm nervous about how "bad" I am doing.

So I am 2 lbs. away from my goal weight! Hooray!

On a side note, you know it's not cool to be a follower, right? BUT I added the "followers" feature to my blog, and that IS cool. I still thought "follower" didn't sound very nice so I changed it to "my loyal subjects"...hehe, like that is so much better! But seriously, please sign up to follow my blog. I would love you forever :) (It is down on the right below the post archive & labels, but it doesn't seem to be working right now. You can also just click here)...I think you have to have a blog yourself? I don't get it! But thanks for those who are trying!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Today Monica had picked the theme "cared for"--meaning the little things that just need to get done. I definitely had to do my checkbook and some bills so that was tops on my list. That didn't take too long, so I moved on to my organizing chores. The coat rack storage box that had looked like a disaster, now looks like this inside:

I tossed out a lot of stuff from there and I think it is so nice and tidy now. Yes, we love Stratego. Next up was the left side of my closet, which is also where we store our sheets and towels. Including beach towels. I guess when people built homes in 1900 they didn't believe in linen closets, so they need to go someplace! My before picture was just the top shelf of towels (which would inevitably fall down when I opened the door) because the bottom half was super ghastly. Well here it is now:

I got rid of a few pairs of shoes and a crazy orange purse (I mean, really). A long time ago, I came up with the tackle box mounted on the wall for jewelry storage. Not the most beautiful, but definitely functional and it's great for hair things, etc. The wipes container also holds miscellany. Marc came home and glibly remarked "those towels are not going to stay that way." Well, with an attitude like that! Just kidding, I know that they won't, but I'm going to get a shelf (can you tell I like shelves?) so that the piles can be sorted better and won't be 3 feet high.

These tasks actually didn't take as long as I thought they would, because I was motivated to get them done before dinner. Which was a good thing, because I ended up having to run and watch my nephew for a bit so it was very fortuitous that I went easy on the chores and had a really easy dinner planned out.

Tomorrow's theme is "fun" and I have no idea how I'm going to make my house more fun than it already is, lol. It is also a busy day for me because it is my WW meeting day, so if I don't get my "Making Your Home a Haven" post up in the morning, you'll know why! In the meantime, check out The Homespun Heart to see how everyone else is doing in the challenge.

So I was excited that yesterday was a success. I think Marc was amazed at how much I did especially with Rayna as needy as she was.

Today on my list is the organizing type things, which can really eat my time. But, I am motivated to have them done before dinner so maybe I can do some Wii fit later tonight...tomorrow is my weigh-in day and I'm not feeling super positive about it! Here's what I want to accomplish:

Pay bills and go through checkbook- it's been a little while since I did this

Organize the one side of my closet:

Recently I had organized Marc's whole chest of drawers so that he could see his enormous t-shirt collection at a glance and I was pretty proud of it. I need to do the same to my closet, seriously! (ok, so a couple are upside down right now, but you get the idea:)

Also, we have a coat rack that has a storage chest attached. It is filled with games and whatnot, but it has gotten a little bit out of control. Here is a before picture:

So, it might not seem a lot, but I know that those will really consume the lion's share of my day. There are also the usual chores like empty/refill dishwasher that happen every day. Dinner is just going to be spaghetti & meatballs using the frozen meatballs that I got on special at Acme this week. :)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I love, love Paperback Swap. It is a no-brainer that it works for me. If you haven't heard of it, here is the run-down:

You join Paperback Swap and list ten books that you don't mind getting rid of. Just for listing your books, they will give you two credits, so you can choose any two books in the system that you want. The person who has the book you want, ships it to you, it costs you a credit. When someone requests one of your books, you ship it to them, you earn a credit. So yes, there is postage involved, but everything else is free.

Since I've joined, I rarely ever buy books. I've gotten cookbooks, biographies, best-sellers, etc. It is not just for paperbacks. I like to request hardcovers whenever I can.

I also signed up for their sister sites, Swap-a-dvd & Swap-a-cd, because you can transfer the credits between them. I got an Andre Rieu dvd :) and I just ordered a Christmas cd.

So if you want to check out Paperback Swap, here is a button. And if you would like to put me as your referrer, my user id is rms33

After my to-do list post this morning, I tackled the overflowing laundry situation while Rayna played on the floor, first in her bedroom while I put away her clean clothes, then in our room while I worked on the pile of Marc's clothes that were just accumulating. I'm also trying to give her more floor time, because how do you learn to crawl if your mom never puts you down on the floor? :)

We came back downstairs and I worked on the dishes while Rayna was in her excer-saucer. She is also teething something fierce this week, as the little top teeth are working their way out! So her patience was running low at this point. I held off on my other chores until naptime. Then I cleaned all of the windows & did the vacuuming.

Boy, was my "hot-spot" end table really something. I get distracted very fast and there was just about every miscellaneous paper there to help my mind wander. But, I think I did a pretty good job staying focused and now it looks like this:I cleaned up all of the clutter and either threw it away or put things where they belonged. Those extra candles got distributed to other areas of the house and I trimmed up the little plant that is somehow still holding on and moved it on my "mantle" area above the tv:

I can't say that the stew in the slow-cooker turned out as stew-y as I would have liked. It was plenty tasty & tonight was a great night for soup, but if you want a thick beef stew, I think you need to stick with the original recipe and bake it. So I'm not going to post my version, because it was a little soupy. But here's a picture!

So that was my day. Marc and I had just bought some new placemats at Crate & Barrel for our dining room table and I put those on today before he came home from work. I think I did pretty well with getting the place cleaned today! I still have the bathtub yet to clean (if, perhaps, you're checking off my list ;), but I'm one of those weird people who showers at night, so I am going to do it then.

See you tomorrow! And don't forget to check out The Homespun Heart & keep up with other gals on the challenge. Love, Bay

So it is the second day of the Making Your Home a Haven challenge at The Homespun Heart. Obviously, Rayna & I are up for the day and had our breakfast and are ready to get rolling. I have already put dinner in the crockpot, a variation of the easy recipe here. I will put the recipe & pics up later.

Since I had just done a bunch of tidying and cleaning yesterday to show the house, this is what I have to work on today:

-Finish all the laundry (there's a *bunch* to put away)-Vacuum both flights of steps and the 3rd floor-Clean all the windows-Empty & reload dishwasher-Clean bathtub (my least favorite chore ever ;)-Clean my hot spots...I have a couple of hot spots in the house that are super clutter zones. I may have zapped a few yesterday, but I just didn't have time to clean this one. I straightened it into a pile, which has since toppled over. For some reason going through piles of mail, articles, etc. takes me forever. So here is a before pic (why are there three candles on one table? lol):I'll be back on later to let you know how I fared with my cleaning, dinner and a nice after pic of that end table!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Ok, so everything in the picture was free! Because, my total after coupons for those 10 items was $19.45. I received $15 in catalina (register) coupons to use on my next order & a coupon for $4.50 off a gallon of milk. That is $19.50 worth of coupons total. On my next transaction I picked up some stuff I needed from the other catalina-producing promotion & also bought everything else we needed for the week (including the gallon of organic milk for $4.99) and that $19.50 came off my total. Hooray!

A funny little note about the photo- I put out this stuff and got sidetracked before I took the picture. When I came back, Marc had opened the Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast and quietly put it back...lol

There is a blog that I enjoy reading called The Homespun Heart. Monica, the author, always has lots of beautiful ideas & I love reading about all of the special things she does in her home. If you know me at all, you know that I am a bit of a wreck, but I seriously love the concept of organization. I try to organize and clean my house constantly, but it seems like the 'work' is never, ever done!

Well this week Monica is hosting a little challenge called 'Making Your Home a Haven' & she's putting up her to-do lists & sharing what she's working on through the week. Today her post is on tidying, and that would be the first area I need to work on as well.

If you don't already know, my house is currently on the market for sale. We have had ONE showing since listing the house ages ago. Well, this morning Rayna & I were not even awake yet when I got a call from the realtor that someone wanted to see the house at 11 AM...!!! I could never show my house like a mess, so I was starting to get frantic about getting the baby ready & having the place spotless & ready to show by 11.

One of my strengths/weaknesses is that I can't do something "half-heartedly". If I am going to do something I need to "do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men." In other words, I feel like if I am going to do something, I need to do it as well as possible. This is where I tend to want to quit at things, because if I feel I'm not going to do it the best, I might as well stop. So imagine me going bonkers, running through the place tidying after Marc had friends over twice in one weekend...I was getting very anxious! Finally, I just decided that I would do 'the best that I can' given the time allowed and I did pretty good. I can now say that the whole place is tidy (a couple things were just stuffed in a drawer, I will work on those now ;).

So, phew, I am now in the challenge & will put up lists and pictures later. And now I'm going to participate much more peacefully! Please check out The Homespun Heart to view Monica's posts & those of others in the challenge.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Sorry these are a little late! There's more good deals to be had yet again this week!

First, if you are new to working deals at Acme, please read the background info on one of my earlier deals posts. This will explain how the coupons double & how to print two copies of the printable coupons. Also note that when there are deals going where you get $$ off your next order, break your orders up and use those coupons on your next transaction in your store. It might be a bit more work at the store, but it saves you more $ out of pocket and ensures that you will use those coupons before they expire. My store looks at me like I have three heads because I literally go in and do one transaction, get my coupon, put the stuff in the car and come back in for another round. Who cares if a checker thinks you're nuts? You're saving big money :)

This week there are a few good promotions going.

First, there is a promo where you spend $20 on participating products, you will receive a coupon for $10 off your next shopping trip. There seem to be almost no coupon matchups for these items, so while you will get a pretty good deal, it doesn't seem like a lot will be totally free. Participating items are:

All General Mills cereals-$1 off any two variety printable here$1 off Honey Nut Cheerios here$0.75 off Wheaties, $0.75 off Total varieties, $0.75 off Fiber One varieties here$0.55 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch, $1 off two Chex varieties, $0.75 off Cheerios Crunch, $0.75 off Cookie Crisp, $0.55 off Reese's Puffs here and also again here$0.55 off Honey Nut Cheerios, $0.55 off Cinnamon Toast Crunch, $1 off two Chex here and again hereBetty Crocker fruit snacksCaribou Coffee barsChex Mix bars-$0.60 off Chex Mix bars coupons here and hereCurves chewy granola barsFiber One chewy bars & toaster pastriesNature Valley granola barsMilk 'n Cereal barsThere are coupons out from recents inserts for:$0.50 off two Betty Crocker fruit snacks$0.75 off Curves chewy granola bars$0.55 off Fiber One chew bars$0.55 off Fiber One toaster pastries$0.75 off Fiber One cereal$0.50 off Oatmeal Crisp cereal(remember, all of those will be doubled!)$1 off any three Orville Redenbacher’s popping corn& a bunch of General Mills $1 off 3 coupons.

Other good deals for the week:Acme Bottled Spring Water 24-pack is on sale for $3.49 each

Betty Crocker potatoes are on sale for $1 each. Use the $0.40 off coupon here to get them for $0.20 each.

Breyer's Ice Cream is only $0.88 when you buy a Sara Lee frozen pie (on sale for $3.99) with circular coupon.

Prima Familia Italian Meatballs are buy one get two free with circular coupon

Finally, there is a Meal Deal promo running where you purchase one Hormel Fully Cooked Entree, one Fresh Express salad kit or complete salad, and one Country Crock side dish & you get $5 off instantly at checkout (you just need to grab the in-store coupon for this). There is a $1 off Country Crock side dish coupon & $1 off Fresh Express kit or complete salad coupon here.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

The other night I had my parents over for dinner & I was not feeling very inspired on what to make. My mom can be a bit finicky and I knew I would need precious pre-dinner time to straighten the house, etc. so whatever I made, it better not be complicated. I decided to try to make something in the Crock Pot, so I made this chicken & stuffing (I really am not a stuffing fanatic, it is a coincidence I've made two chicken & stuffing recipes in the last week!) recipe that tasted a good deal like Cracker Barrel's chicken & dressing lunch special. You know the one they only serve on Mondays? Have it any night of the week :)

Spray the crockpot with non-stick spray and arrange the chicken in a flat layer on the bottom (the crockpot I used is short and wide). Sprinkle chicken with cheese and any other seasonings you might want. Evenly spread soup on chicken. Top with stuffing mix and dump in can of water. Cover & cook on low for 6 hours. (Towards the end I also stirred up the stuffing on top so it wouldn't get too dry). I calculated this to be 7 pts. for one chicken breast and 1/6 of the stuffing & gravy.

Then, last night I was feeling extra un-inspired for making dinner and didn't want chicken again. Since chicken has been on sale, it seems like I have tons of it. Defrosting beef seemed like too much of a hassle, so I concocted this recipe which was the easiest thing in the world and I didn't have to defrost the tilapia. I buy those club packs of it at Wegman's & I make the same old 'breadcrumb & caper topping' recipe every single time. Thought I would try something new with this & my husband loved it like I spent hours on it.

Preheat oven to 350. Spray bottom of 11x13 inch dish with non-stick spray and arrange the frozen tilapia filets in a single layer on the bottom. Season with whatever seasonings you want (I used Pampered Chef Southwest Seasoning because it seemed like it would go). Evenly spread the box of soup on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the tilapia flakes in the center. Serve over rice.The tilapia and 1/4 of the soup is 6 points. Don't cheat and try to include the rice in there!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

It's Works for me Wednesday again! This time it is a themed edition about toys actually worth buying. I really thought long and hard about what toys I could really stand behind, and I have to say that my knowledge is slim. At just about 8 mos., Rayna is most happy playing with her spoons. What I did go through like water, pre-baby, was dog toys. And when I thought of "toy that is actually worth it's price" I immediately thought of Good Cuz toys.

Kongs are great for marathon-chewing type dogs, but don't they get a little boring after a while? My dog Buddie was a real maniac of a puppy. He quickly ditched Kongs because they didn't squeak, and we started ripping through toys quicker than toilet paper. Good Cuz (& Bad Cuz, Ruffians and all the other shapes) were the strongest, squeakiest, best toys we could buy for him. Long after he ripped the feet off, the ball was still fascinating to him. Who knew? They look like this:and you can get them anywhere. Here is an online store that is selling them for a decent price. Amazon.com also sells them. I get them at my local pet store, but they also sell them at larger chains, too. Look for the bright colors and the dalmatian on the package. If you have a little one of the doggy type on your list, I'm sure he/she would appreciate it! They definitely worked for me & Buddie Love ;)

Hooray for the holidays coming up, and hooray for another little blog giveaway!

This time, I have up for grabs two new "Chase the Snowflakes" doorhangers by American Greetings (think Carlton Cards). So that means two winners (one prize each) will be chosen! The doorhangers are like little pillows on a string & are super cute. Use it for your front door, a child's room or anywhere you have a place to hang it!

The deadline to enter is November 13th by midnight EST. The winners will be picked November 14th and notified via email. This giveaway is open to anyone in the US & Canada.

Just post a comment to enter! You don't need to be a blogger, just provide a valid email address so I can get ahold of you if you win. If you have a private profile and you don't include your email in your comment, I can't reach you! Just type your email something like this in your comment: QueenMotherBlog{at}gmail(dot)com & you're golden.

Want two extra entries? 1. You can post about my giveaway on your blog and leave the link in a comment. Though I would love a fancy write-up, a quick link on one of your posts will do!2. Subscribe to my feed and post a comment letting me know.

Just post separate comments for each entry, as I will be using a random number generator to choose a winner from the comments.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Ok, so I posted my Acme deals for the week, and I knew that there were some good deals to be had with their "spend $30 get a $15 coupon for your next order" promo going on. But as I got ready to go to the store tonight, I started to get really excited...I got all of THAT (above) for less than $20!

I'm going to detail it here for you, but be sure to check out my original post for the links to the coupons. You can really work a deal very similar to mine (two transactions worth!) using only the printable coupon sites that I linked to.

Used four $0.75 off cookie mix coupons, doubled to $1.50 eachUsed two $0.65 off three vegetable coupons, doubled to $1.30 eachUsed two $0.50 off two vegetable coupons, doubled to $1 eachUsed two $0.60 off three vegetable coupons, doubled to $1.20 eachUsed four $0.40 off potatoes coupons, doubled to $0.80 eachUsed four $0.50 off broth coupons, doubled to $1 eachGot credit for $30.60 of participating items, paid $10.40 out of pocket, got $15 in catalina (register) coupons for my next purchase.

Transaction #2 - I bought:1 Betty Crocker cookie mix at $1.664 Betty Crocker frosting tubs at $1.66 each1 Betty Crocker potato at $14 boxes of 100-Calorie Chex Mix at $2.50 each1 Country Crock spread at $1.66 each (my store did not have the Omega variety, but if your does, you can use the printable)2 Betty Crocker brownie mixes at $1.66 each

Used one $0.75 off cookie mix coupon, doubled to $1.50*Used one $0.40 off potatoes couponUsed two $0.40 off brownie mixes couponUsed four $0.55 off frosting couponsUsed four $0.55 off two Progresso soup couponsUsed four $0.60 off Chex coupons(*Here I had a different cashier who was VERY nervous about "printed" coupons, even after the manager reassured her that different barcodes = legit coupons. She read the fine print on all the coupons, which said "do not double or triple" and she manually over-rode them so they didn't double! I have NEVER experienced that before; Acme is so generous with their doubling--they do it to every coupon--but I wasn't going to cause a problem, especially when I was bagging so much for such a great deal!)Got credit for $31.76 of participating items, used the three $5 off catalina coupons from the first transaction, paid $8.75 out of pocket (it would have been $1.06 if I stuck with my usual cashier!), got $15 in catalina coupons for my next purchase!

Transaction #3 - Here is where it gets a little hairy, because I was just buying what I needed at this point. Some of the deals were:I bought 2 Fresh Express Tender Leaf bagged salads on sale 2 for $4, used two of the $0.50 printable coupons, they doubled to $1 off, and got both bags for $2. PLUS, I got the 2 lbs. of free bananas with the in-store coupon!I also picked up three canisters of the free Wet Ones (I used two printables and one newspaper coupon for $0.75, they all doubled to $1.50)Some other deals I happened upon were Steamfresh rice on sale for $1 & I had $1 off coupons, etc.I used only two of the $5 off catalina coupons from the second transaction, and paid $1 out of pocket! So I still have $5 off my next purchase.

If you have any questions about how to do this deal, please leave it in the comments and I'll get back to you!

Next time you go Don Pablo's, pick up a Habanero's Club Card. You will get a free dip sampler for joining and $10 off on your birthday, your anniversary and every 10th visit. Visit their website for more details.

Fuddrucker's Fudd's Club will give you a free burger on your birthday, along with offers for your children under 10.

Maggiano's (my favorite!) will give you $10 off your next meal & periodic special offers when you sign up for their emails.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

First, a little background information for working your deals at Acme-Acme has *the best* coupon doubling policy in my area. While most NJ stores will double the value of a coupon up to $1 (a $0.75 cent coupon would max out at $1), Acme will double the value of any coupons under $1. So if you have a $0.99 cent coupon it will be doubled to $1.98 off. This extra savings can make all the difference.

When Acme has items on quantity sale (such as 2 for $4), you do not need to buy that quantity to get the sale price! Only if they specifiy “MUST buy two”, which is rare!

Ok, now a little printable coupon information-When you print online coupons you may need to install some software. It is mandatory, but very quick. Also, there is usually a print limit of two coupons to be printed per computer. When you print the coupon, hit the back button a few times for the coupon to print again. You can try this as many times as you like, but usually the software will recognize the print limit and you only get two coupons per computer.

Here we go-Finally there are some good promos running this week! This week, the deals are pretty much the same with printables & newspaper insert coupons. Also, a lot of the "here" clickable links are for one website. I found that by *not* putting in my zip code, I got more coupons to show up. Here's the best deals I see:

No coupon here, but it is *still* Acme’s lowest price of the year on boneless, skinless chicken breast- $1.69 lb. for packages of 3 lbs. or more. It will save you $ to get a big pack on sale like this and divide it into freezer bags of 1lb. portions and freeze.

Bird's Eye Voila! meals are on sale 25% off (now around $5 each), use the $1 off 1 coupons here.

Fresh Express Salad Blends bagged salads are on sale 2 for $4, plus when you buy 2 bags, receive up to two lbs. of bananas free! If the "Tender Leaf" variety is included in the sale, use two of the $0.50 off 1 printable here (that will double to $1 off 1) to get it all for $2 total.

Pepsi brand 2-Liters are on sale for $0.80 each when you buy 5, using the coupon on the last page of the circular. Coke brand 2-Liters are also on sale for $0.80 each when you buy 5, using the coupon the last page, but one 2-liter must be Fanta.

Wet Ones 40 ct. towelettes are on sale for $1.50, this week's paper has a coupon for $0.75, which will double to $1.50 making them FREE. You can also get a $0.75 off coupon here.

Barilla pastas are $1.33 each. There are $1 off printables for the Piccolini variety here.
On the back page of this week's circular is a promo where you spend $30 on any of the products listed and get a coupon for $15 off your next shopping trip. These items have various price points like "6 for $10", but you do NOT need to purchase six of the items to get that price or to qualify for the offer. You can mix and match from any of them. In case you are as bad at math as I am, the prices are 10 for $10 = $1, 6 for $10 = $1.66, 4 for $10 = $2.50 & 3 for $10 = $3.33 each. The $30 you need to spend on these products is before coupons. Here are all the coupon match-ups that I see for this:

Betty Crocker Specialty Potatoes are on sale for $1, print the coupons here, here & here to get each box for $0.20.

Betty Crocker Frosting is on sale for $1.66 each. Use the $0.55 cent printable here to get them for $0.56 each.

Chex Mix is on sale $2.50, use the $1 off coupon here, or the $0.60 coupon here that will double to $1.20.

Green Giant box vegetables are on sale for $1 each. Use the $0.65 off 3 coupon here to get 3 boxes for $0.56 each.

Knorr Veggie Sides are on sale for $1.66. Use the $0.60 off coupon here to get them for $0.46 each.

Progresso broths are on sale for $1.66 each. Use the $0.50 off 1 coupon here to get 1 for $0.66.

Progresso Traditional soups are on sale for $1.66, you can use the $1 off three coupon here, or $1 off two & $2 off four coupons here.

Pillsbury frozen dinner rolls and biscuits are on sale for $3.33, use the $.50 off coupon here to make them $2.33 each.

Pillsbury Toaster Strudels are on sale for $3.33, use the $1 off coupon here.

Shedd's Spread Country Crock, select varieties are on sale for $2.50. If the Omega Plus variety is included, use the $0.55 cents off coupon here to get one for $1.40.

Totino's Pizza Rolls are on sale for $3.33, use the $0.35 off coupons here, to make them $2.60 each.